Poverty and Social Deprivation in Botswana: A Rural Case Study

Moepeng, Pelotshweu T. and Tisdell, Clem (2006). Poverty and Social Deprivation in Botswana: A Rural Case Study. Working papers on Social Economics, Policy and Development45, School of Economics, The University of Queensland.

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Poverty and social deprivation in Botswana are rising in rural areas while they are declining in urban towns and villages. Revenue from diamond mining is thought to have made a significant contribution to reducing poverty levels in cities and urban villages. However, the benefits from diamond revenue are perceived to have not reversed trends in rural poverty. In this study, contingency tables and chi-square tests are used to determine whether there is an association between the gender, educational status, and age of household heads and whether or not they believe their household is in the 20% of the least well-off households, in their selected rural village, Nshakashogwe. Such less well-off households if not in absolute poverty, are likely to be in comparative poverty. The results indicate that the gender of the household head is associated with household poverty in this village. Furthermore, the age of the household head is; the older is the household head, the less likely is the household to be in relative poverty. The relationship between the level of educational attainment of the household head and whether or not the head stated that their household is in the 20% least well-off in the village is almost the same for those with primary education or less and those who had completed secondary education but becomes significantly different when the household head has achieved tertiary education. Furthermore, household heads with higher levels of education compared to those with less education more frequently said that their economic situation had improved in the last ten years.